The present invention is directed generally to a device for use in testing the wiring integrity and/or determining the location of system faults in a modem and/or an associated telephone line and more particularly to a device for use in testing the wiring integrity and/or determining the location of systems faults in a modem and/or an associated telephone line which are coupled together by modular type connectors.
It is known to transmit data back and forth from a computer at one location to a computer at another location over a telephone line by connecting the computer at each location to the telephone line through a modem. The moden and telephone line at each location are normally coupled together by a pair of mating connectors, one connector being attached to the telephone line and other connector being attached to the modem. Over the last several years, modular type connectors have become widely used in this and other types of applications. One advantage of modular type connectors is that multiple wires can be easily, efficiently and very quickly mass terminated. Another advantage of modular type connectors is their relatively small size. One of the limitations with modular type connectors, however, is that once they are attached to the multiple wires, they cannot be very easily removed. Another limitation with modular type connectors is that because of their very small size the contact elements cannot be individually contacted with conventional sized test probes or conventional sized clips such as are normally attached to meters or other test equipment.
During an initial installation of a modem/telephone line system it is often desirable to test the wiring connections to insure that the wires are properly connected and the system is operating correctly. Once installed, in the event of a system breakdown it it generally helpful to test the various lins with the modem connected to determine if the fault is in the modem or in the telephone line. As can be appreciated, using modular type connectors such testing is extremely difficult, if at all possible.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a device for use in testing a modem and/or an associated telephone line which are coupled together.
It is another object of this invention to provide a device for use in testing a modem and/or an associated telephone line which are coupled together by modular connectors.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a device for use in testing a modem and/or an associated telephone line which are adapted to be coupled together by modular connectors while the modem is electrically coupled to the telephone line.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a device which may be used with test equipment having conventional sized test probes and/or clips for testing a modem and/or an associated telephone line which are coupled together by modular type connectors.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a device which is easy and inexpensive to fabricate and easy to use for use in testing a modem and/or an associated telephone line which are coupled together by modular type connectors.